A contrarian blog, because the majority is wrong about a lot of stuff.

December 28, 2012

HBD has no future?

I believe that the taboo against HBD will last indefinitely. As the scientific evidence mounts ever more so in favor of HBD, the taboos against speaking about it only seem to grow stronger. In 1994, the Bell Curve was published and generated massive coverage in the media. Now, if it were published today, it would be blacklisted and left unmentioned. I remember first becoming aware of HBD in 2005, when Cochran, Harpending, etc. published their article about Azhkenazi intelligence, and I read about it in an online news piece. Steven Pinker seemed to have taken note of it, and later said that the most dangerous idea in science was that ethnicities differ in talent and temperament because of their genes. I seriously doubt anyone would mention such an explosive piece of writing in today's news media. Ever since James Watson talked about racial differences in intelligence, and he lost his job, it has been clear that even mentioning HBD will cost you your career - even if you helped discover DNA.

Different HBD writers have discussed when and under what conditions HBD will be commonly accepted by Americans. At this point, I don't think Americans will change on their own. While truths last forever, taboos against them can last for centuries. As America and Europe become less white, there is less and less chance that whites in those places will talk about non-whites are different from them. I think America and Europe will be in an Orwellian state of denial about HBD onward and onward, and they won't change that on their own.

But, Chinese scientists don't grow up in a culture which forbids HBD research. If anything, the Han would love to prove their superiority. The question is: will Chinese elites adopt Western attitudes towards race and racism? If they do, they too may forbid their scientists from researching HBD, because doing as much will make them appear parochial and uncouth to the greater world community.

If they don't, and instead embrace their ethnic heritage, then I see no reason for them to back off from HBD, and every reason for them to talk about how Chinese have bigger brains than whites, are more cooperative and are all together less animalistic than whites are, for all the reasons Rushton laid out.

In short, it boils down to this: will Chinese elites seek to become part of the greater global community and line their pockets, or will they cling tightly to their parochial identity and rage against all who oppose their path to power? That may yet be the great matter of the 21st century, much the way it was with how Germany had to confront that dilemma a century ago.

But if you want to learn how to convince people of the truth of HBD, read how to do this at my new blog. But no “racist” comments there, please.

Researchers frequently publish journal articles measuring the genetic basis or hereditability of intelligence and personality traits like impulsivity and agreeableness. There is almost zero outrage or cries of racism, although I would argue that it is partly racist. Steve Pinker wrote a whole book on this subject and it was a best seller that won a ton of awards (Pulitzer finalist).

The above are the healthier outlets for studying human biodiversity. No one has to dumb their points down or sacrifice intellectual honesty. That is what I would advocate for this crowd.

This blog seems to expect a more loud, dramatic, inflammatory, and public pronouncements of contentious racial differences. Society doesn't tolerate that and I believe that it shouldn't.

I think one reason HBD isn't gaining more traction is because of the so-called Flynn Effect.

If true, it would mean that there's nothing to worry about because everyone will be geniuses soon enough, and we just need more nutrition and education to fix everything. The elites have definitely been working on things based on the Flynn effect, focusing billions on education and nutrition hard, so they are paying attention to the debate.

The Flynn effect hasn't been seriously attacked academically to my knowledge, has it?

Of course the Flynn effect implies that our grandparents were morons, something that we know not to be true.

"If true, it would mean that there's nothing to worry about because everyone will be geniuses soon enough, and we just need more nutrition and education to fix everything. The elites have definitely been working on things based on the Flynn effect, focusing billions on education and nutrition hard, so they are paying attention to the debate."

Noooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's like arguing: "Strength has increased over the years as nutrition has improved, so in the future everyone will be strong". Or: "Humans have gotten taller over the last few centuries, so in the future, everyone will be tall and variation in height will disappear"

TPTB hate the notion of HBD becoming popular.
But the difference from the 90s is they feel much more threatened by it (and other notions) so they don't fight it openly with ridicule, they simply bury it (that is different from ignoring it).

They need to attack and repress the messengers because they are unable to fight the message. This imply they are unable to keep converting people to their belief and more and more people accept the other belief as self evident.

Rutheford said something about "progress moving from funeral to funeral".

I agree with the first part of this message --- (a) HBD is a taboo, like the nonexistence of Jesus' miracles was in Xth century Europe (b) Attacking taboos through speech or writing alone leads you nowhere ---, but it starts to go bonkers after that.

The Chinese superior to Whites? Yeah, hum, sure, dude... that's probably true if you take average national IQs as a frame of reference, but it becomes a quite funny assertion with other frames of reference.

Also, the only reason for HBD acceptance in China he can come up with is "proving the Han are superior"?

There are many other possible reasons: they include "using eugenics, cloning and genetic engineering to put an end to handicaps, minor or major".

I expect that at some point in the future, the Chinese will start using advances in genetics and biology to actively put an end to congenital disorders such as myopia or ugliness, something that is still a taboo and a sacrilege in the West. It will open an era of normalized and generalized DNA intervention on toddlers and embryos. The recognition of HBD would then happen de facto.

Beyond the PC and offensiveness factors (which I think are important), there are two objections I have to this type of language on grounds of intellectual honesty and accuracy.

First, even when the average individual of group A has more of a measurable trait than the average of group B, generally many individuals break that rule. The language you use should reflect this reality. It's more honest and accurate to say "the average Chinese individual has a larger..."

Secondly, what people casually refer to as race, such as "chinese" or "white", is very imprecise. For example, many people look like one ethnic group but genetically have more similarity to another, and many people have complex admixtures from ancient population mixing. If you identify a specific gene or SNP, that is extremely precise.

Rants don't prove any points. Data does. That's why HBD blogs are embarassing. It's because the commenters think that sloppy speculations and extrapolations that they make based on their subjective and selective observations can be presented as fact. I routinely see people here draw conclusions that go far beyond anything indicated or suggested by twin adoption studies, GWAS studies, etc. These studies are *suggestive* of a *small percentage* of the options that people here have, but they are hardly decisive.

"Researchers frequently publish journal articles measuring the genetic basis or hereditability of intelligence and personality traits like impulsivity and agreeableness. There is almost zero outrage or cries of racism, although I would argue that it is partly racist."

This. There is a ton of research being conducted in these fields, but unlike many HBD commenters, the researchers don't draw conclusions that go beyond what the data suggests, because they don't have an axe to grind in relation to politics or race.

I do hope that you will at least discuss IQ differences (within races) on the new blog. The first step toward HBD acceptance is the recognition that the bell curve really exists, and that the "10,000 myth" that everyone can become Einstein if he just puts in the hours is false.

On the topic of HBD: while I myself may not be immune to occasional bursts of anger upon hearing of Black-on-White violence, HBD would be given a great service if people would only frame it as a way to help those less fortunate, as a way to raise awareness that humanity (i.e., in this particular case White scientists and those who fund them) must work together to help Black people and eventually bring about true equality within the races - something that will never happen while current liberal thought prevails.

I find that people are very open to the idea that IQ is real and based on genes, and not everyone should go to college. When it comes to race, however, they get upset. I think convincing people of the importance of genes is the first step.

One other possibility is that HBD acceptance won't come from domestic politics, but from foreign affairs. The perpetual humanitarian crises in Africa could energize parts of the left into "stop patronizing them with fantasy expectations, and help them where they actually live."

You can't ignite passions by sterile data presentations. Imagine if the American revolutionaries refrained from polemics and instead wrote about some boring tax technicalities. That's essentially what you want and it won't go anywhere either.

HBD will stop being taboo when there are genetic engineering solutions to group inequalities in intelligence, criminality, etc. Until then, those in power don't want the problem identified, if no solution that they find palatable is possible.

"These studies are *suggestive* of a *small percentage* of the options that people here have, but they are hardly decisive".

You just shot yourself in the foot. Look at East Asia, and look at Europe and America, and now make a determination who's smarter and who's ahead of the curve. The knee jerk reaction would be that China was far ahead of the West for many centuries. So were the Muslims in the past. So what and who cares?

The Catholic Church tried Galileo for Heresy and convicted him. How did that exactly work out for Catholic countries? Oh yeah, Protestant nations outstripped them because knowing the reality of the world made things like navigation more accurate. Which meant Dutch and English traders could avoid running aground on reefs and make their destinations more timely, while Catholic Spain and Portugal, the early leaders, labored under the pretense of an earth-centric universe.

HBD is the future because Chinese and Korean and Japanese scientists will undoubtedly create DNA-changing treatments to boost intelligence for different races, and the black market for lucrative intelligence boosts (and athletic and other attributes as well) will far surpass the drug market.

There is ungodly amounts of money to be made by making dumb people smarter, so expect HBD to surface via Black market DNA enhancements. We live in a sci-fi world and have since the dawn of agriculture.

I'm reading your blog from my iPad at mcdonalds (does that make me a prole?) as I so often do, and ironically your new non-offensive blog is blocked by the terms and conditions. I can't access it here, though I had no problem accessing it from a wildly popular doughnut restaurant this afternoon.

"The knee jerk reaction would be that China was far ahead of the West for many centuries. So were the Muslims in the past. So what and who cares?"

When examining racial differences in intelligence you have to look at the big picture, not just who's ahead right now. Mongoloids are genetically superior and more evolved than caucasoids (no doubt) however whites (especially Ashkenazi Jews) are just an especially advanced form of caucasoid. Most caucasoids have genetic IQ's around 90 and occupy primitive countries. However even whites (with the exception of Ashkenazi) are not as bright as East Asians, though the IQ difference is small enough that whites occasionally pull ahead because of superior luck, aggression and mental illnesses linked to creativity (such primitive traits not seen in superior Mongoloids)

Aside from the racial implications, getting Americans to accept the realities of intelligence would require our culture to accept that half of all students are below average. And nobody wants to be below average.

I disagree that HBD denial will continue to dominate the culture. As more and more time passes from the holocaust and Jim-crow era, racism will not be such a stigmatized concept, and the sheer volume of the science will make denial look foolish, and if there's one thing liberal elites pride themselves on, it's their acceptance of science (it's what separates them from creationist proles).

People will accept that races differ in genetic capacity for abstract and logical reasoning, however what might continue to happen is that because blacks are genetically disadvantaged on g, less g loaded brain functions like musical talent and physical coordination will be seen as just as valuable as abilities emphasized by IQ tests (see Howard gardner's multiple intelligence)

in the victorian era, sex was the great taboo. in our era, race is the big taboo. my point is: in about 100 years, HBD will probably be as widely discussed as sex is today, because it is equally core to our existence.

IQ only goes so far when it comes to creating a functional society. Maybe it was just a fluke that northern Europe turned out so well. It may have been something to do with the Protestant reformation making corruption socially unacceptable. Look what a basket case Russia is. Wouldn't Caucasians in Russia have the same average IQ as those in northern Europe? They look the same.

half sigma,
you are the best blogger out there when it comes to hbd issues and when it comes to non hbd issues.

i strongly support your decision to run a blog that is free from all mention of hbd. As soon as someone finds mention on your blog of the genetically low IQ of nams, they ignore all your other great insights.

The solution here is to continue half sigma as a blog that is HBD only. allow continued discussion of HBD at half sigma. Start a new blog and do not mention to anyone the connection between your new blog and this one

it will be hard cause your new blog will take a long time to get an audience. however, ultimately you will have two separate great blogs, one that is non hbd, a blog you can show to your friends in real life and be proud of.

at the same time you can secretly keep running half sigma and actually discuss the truth of hbd.

is anyone else following the discussion at isteve on why the NAMs of NYC seem to have dramatically reduced their murder rate while the NAMs of Chicago have dramatically increased their own murder rate? i would like to hear the perspective of the others here at half sigma.

.. Could it be that, totally aside from the effectiveness of the gun ban in NYC vs failure of the ban in Chicago that there is a fundamental difference in the willingness to of chicago police to risk their lives by confronting dangerous nams vs the eagerness by which NYPD confronts dangerous nams?

If you spend any time reading the second city cop blog you see a picture of good cops driven to behave in lazy ineffective ways and just sort of let the NAMs do what they want in their own neighborhoods.

Anyone with experience with the Chicago pd and with the new york pd please chime in here.

" HBD would be given a great service if people would only frame it as a way to ... help Black people and eventually bring about true equality within the races - something that will never happen while current liberal thought prevails."

That is the embodiment of liberalthink, that we must work to bring about 'true equality.' This is an eternally unreachable goal.

There is only one sense where 'true equality' has any meaning and that is in the religious sense of the equality of human souls in judgment before God. That is where the notion of equality came from. If you don't believe in that then 'equality' should not even exist in your vocabulary. Equality before the law is based on the idea that something internal (i.e. the soul) is equal in each person.

If you try to think about 'equality' of people in terms of external characteristics, the only way to genuinely make progress in this would be to eliminate genetic diversity. There is quite a lot of equality in fields of crops and in livestock herds for instance.

"HBD will stop being taboo when there are genetic engineering solutions to group inequalities in intelligence, criminality, etc. Until then, those in power don't want the problem identified, if no solution that they find palatable is possible."

They might want the problem identified when they can't escape from it anymore because they are unable to isolate themselves.

"The Catholic Church tried Galileo for Heresy and convicted him. How did that exactly work out for Catholic countries? Oh yeah, Protestant nations outstripped them because knowing the reality of the world made things like navigation more accurate. Which meant Dutch and English traders could avoid running aground on reefs and make their destinations more timely, while Catholic Spain and Portugal, the early leaders, labored under the pretense of an earth-centric universe."

Actually what happened is that scientific inquiry largely moved out of Catholic controlled Europe, mainly to England and Germany. Kepler, a contemporary of Galileo, had his library placed under seal in 1625 by the agents of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. He was forced to move.

The next big development in modern science came from Newton in Protestant England. The fact that scientific research could be openly published and discussed is part of the reason England became the center of the industrial revolution.

---
There is an emergent literature suggesting that East Asians and Westerners differ in cognitive processes because of cultural biases to process information holistically (East Asians) or analytically (Westerners). To evaluate the possibility that such differences are accompanied by differences in brain structure, we conducted a large comparative study on cognitively matched young and old adults from two cultural/ethnic groups—Chinese Singaporeans and non-Asian Americans—that involved a total of 140 persons. Young predominantly White American adults were found to have higher cortical thickness in frontal, parietal, and medial-temporal polymodal association areas in both hemispheres. These findings were replicated using voxel-based morphometry applied to the same data set. Differences in cortical thickness observed between young volunteers were not significant in older subjects as a whole. However, group differences were evident when high-performing old were compared. Although the observed differences in gray matter may be rooted in strategic differences in cognition arising from ethnic/cultural differences, alternative explanations involving genetic heritage and environmental factors are also considered.
---http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3361742/

Also for Clay: Grice's maxim indicates that, for people who understand basics of induction, it is non-normative to qualify group differences with various caveats that are obviously evident (except in some cases where the distributions do not overlap at all! There are traits like this for male-female differences).

Sigma, its fine for you to have another blog. I just prefer the look and feel of this one as well as the tone (bordering on arrogant, smug). The other one, I am not convinced. Was it inspired by Griffe Du Lion? Since you are not making money off blogging, why not blog on both?

The elite can't accept HBD. They've spent seventy years saying that if genetics matter, the Nazis were right. Then they bet the country on importing millions of hispanics and sundry other peoples from low-performing groups, sterilizing the SWPL classes, encouraging the dimmest, least responsible, and most criminal of all populations to have kids early and often. Not to mention indirect policy decisions influenced by Blank Slatism, like exporting a huge chunk of the manufacturing base, cuz we can all get jobs as web designers and molecular biologists.

Admitting HBD is real is admitting that they done effed up, and shouldn't be in charge of anything.

It is very simple: the only way h-bd will ever become recognized is if mainstream conservatism is defeated.

In _We Are Doomed_, Derbyshire divided philosophy into three camps: Biologian, Culturist, and Religionist.

Biologianism in its pure form is essentially Nazism, aka Right-Fascism. As should be obvious to anybody here, white Nazism is dead, but East Asian Nazism is rising quickly, including right here in our own back yard.

Culturism in its pure form is essentially Communism, aka Left-Fascism. I don't think there are too many on this blog who would question that.

Religionism in its pure form is Theocracy. The greatest weakness of Derbyshire's book, in my opinion, is that he failed to recognize the link between Religionism and the ideology of complete personal responsibility. They are one in the same. Complete personal responsibility is every bit as evil as Nazism and Communism. And it must be defeated at all costs.

Any modern conservative movement, including h-bd, can only survive if it is divorced from Nazism and Theocracy, or 100% Personal Responsibility. That means that h-bders must be clear that environment and culture do make a real difference, even if they are far from 100%, less than 50% really (I'd say life outcomes are about 1/3 biological, 1/3 environmental, and 1/3 personal responsibility/choice).

I think it is also a critical mistake to completely reject religion, or see it as only a way to control the masses. Everyone needs religion/spirituality, even though organized religion tends to be highly flawed and many forms of "spirituality" are either religion (i.e., 12 Steps) or conversely, New Age B.S. There is no certainty that God(s) exist, but I think it is essential for human wellbeing to believe some form of deity exists. That's why most of the Founding Fathers considered themselves Deists, rather than either atheists, agnostics, or Christians.

@Sigma Male:
Let me guess: you think that Asian women are ugly. Sadly this seems to be the real divide between pro-white, mostly pro-white, and pro-Asian h-bd'ers. 80% of it is how we think of Asian females--whether as irrelevant/ugly/useless, useful (but only as one-night stands and/or dutiful wives), or as lovely creatures to be worshiped. The latter attitude may, of course, be un-masculine, but really, I think traditional masculinity is evil, other than as self-defense to defeat those in favor of traditional masculinity. Traditional masculinity leads only to war and suffering, and boring lives of quiet desperation, for both men and women. Not to mention that it stifles creativity and real innovation--how many traditionally married men invent anything? Almost none. Usually they invented stuff before they got into traditional marriage. There are other ways of raising kids. And so what, if like me, their beautiful female sitters have their way with them? I think it would be better for all men, though sadly traditionalists despise nothing more than a man sexually enjoying being dominated by a female.

"I don't want to sound like a racist, but my constant rants abouts Asians on HS have proven my points, those regarding Asians and their lack of ingenuity and originality."

the west has only been ascendant for the past 500 years. the asian civilizations in persia, india and china were for millenia running circles around the obscure europeans running around in the wilds of silesia, faces painted blue, rubbing their greasy fingers on their thighs around some rude campfire.

it's too bad you weren't born just a few decades earlier when the west was really rocking it. i mean, with absolutely no rivals at all. those were heady days for unaccomplished losers like you who had nothing to be proud of other than their skin tone.

but it's your fate to have been born in a time of transition. look at where capital, financial and human, are moving now. i refer you to jim rogers, marc faber, et al. you clearly don't travel much, but if you did, you would see where there is progress and where there is stagnation.

I had a conversation with friends and family on Christmas Day where racial differences in commission of crime (namely, and explicitly, that blacks commit a lot more crime than whites) were discussed. No one called anyone else racist at this conversation, even though we had someone who is an idealistic left/liberal graduate student looking to become a social worker in our midst. We also talked about how it's unrealistic to expect a nation like the US to behave similarly to a nation like Sweden, given we're not full of Swedes.

Personally I take this as an indication that whites are becoming less scared of accepting that hey -- These different groups exist, they differ in important ways and it's just reality to acknowledge that differences exist.

"When examining racial differences in intelligence you have to look at the big picture, not just who's ahead right now. Mongoloids are genetically superior and more evolved than caucasoids (no doubt) however whites (especially Ashkenazi Jews) are just an especially advanced form of caucasoid. Most caucasoids have genetic IQ's around 90 and occupy primitive countries. However even whites (with the exception of Ashkenazi) are not as bright as East Asians"...

Blah blah blah...BS!

What big picture are you talking about? Europe has been ahead of East Asia for many centuries. The Europeans have surpassed Asians in the arts, sciences, governmental affairs and technology. Have you ever traveled outside of the United States and observe White people on the other side of the Atlantic? A comparision between White Americans with Asians in the US may not be a fair one, given the fact that the latter group are the smarter ones coming from a select immigrant group. You like most Asians in this country view everything with a pair of provincial lens.

Regarding Ashkenazi, they aren't as smart as people claim them to be. The IQ difference between Ashkenazi and White gentiles aren't that big enough to warrant a significance. In fact many Ashkenazi had lower IQs than East Asians when they first came into America. One of the motto back then was that Jews were considered too dumb to do anything of importance.

Congenital disorders are present before birth, at birth or within one month after birth. Most cases of myopia are not congenital, and there is also evidence that myopia has a strong environmental component. I wouldn't say that ugliness is truly congenital either. It's not always possible to tell that a baby will grow up to be an ugly adult. Since there are likely to be numerous genes influencing facial appearance, it will be a difficult fix. Also, the degree of tissue remodeling required may mean that any genetic amelioration will need to be combined with surgery.

"the west has only been ascendant for the past 500 years. the asian civilizations in persia, india and china were for millenia running circles around the obscure europeans running around in the wilds of silesia, faces painted blue, rubbing their greasy fingers on their thighs around some rude campfire".

I'm sure you think Ancient Greece and Rome were also primitive civilizations that couldn't rival Persia, India or China.

And none of these civilizations you mentioned, have any significant imprint on the modern world.

Europeans have surpassed East Asians in many endeavors and continue to do so.

Again, the typical knee jerk reaction coming from Asians is that China was ahead of the West for many centuries.

Jim Rogers and Marc Faber are idiots who don't understand that it is Western concepts that have propelled East Asia. Japan, the most sophisticated East Asian country has stagnated, and China is just a one big rar rar without much substance.

Unfortunately, this stunning structure is located in NYC's Chinatown, a neighborhood known for its filth and unremarkableness found in most Asian sections of NYC. This mismatch is a piece of art of Western ingenuity placed in a neighborhood of boring, simple minded and cold hearted Mongoloids who could neither appreciate nor understand its beauty. Walk around Chinatown and all you see is decaying buildings and unremarkable businesses that were in place since the dawn of time. A HBD viewpoint is that most Asians aren't compatible with Western societies and this is clearly a perfect example.

[HS: Those are prole Chinese. Prole white neighborhoods suck just as bad. At least you can walk around Chinatown without worrying about getting mugged.]

"Those are prole Chinese. Prole white neighborhoods suck just as bad. At least you can walk around Chinatown without worrying about getting mugged".

HS, you're somewhat wrong about this.

Prole White neighborhoods are a lot cleaner and have prettier architecture. There are some attractive looking churches and synagogues in prole White Christian and Jewish neighborhoods. There isn't anything remarkable about prole Asian neighborhoods.

Here are some pictures of some Hasidic Synagogues, and Christian Churches in Williamsburg.

"What big picture are you talking about? Europe has been ahead of East Asia for many centuries. The Europeans have surpassed Asians in the arts, sciences, governmental affairs and technology."

Arts and government are subjective. FACTS: while whites were wallowing in barbarianism, china had had paper money, weights and measures, gun powder, the printing press, navigational equipment; all the building blocks for the most advanced civilizations. If china wanted to they could have easily discovered Europe, put us in chains, and brought us to the Americas as slaves,and kept whites as slaves until the present day while exploiting all of the wealth of the america's for themselves.

We're very lucky that the superior morals and reduced aggression of the new and improved highly evolved mongoloid race spared us from centuries of oppression. Us whites rule the world, not because we're the smartest, but because we are the smartest of the ruthless and greedy races. Blacks are even more ruthless and greedy but we outsmarted them and made them slaves (something the Chinese were too moral to do to us!)

"Regarding Ashkenazi, they aren't as smart as people claim them to be. The IQ difference between Ashkenazi and White gentiles aren't that big enough to warrant a significance."

They have a mean IQ of 110 (same as hong kongoids); way higher than the white gentile IQ of 99.

In a comment dated May 17, 2006 9:43 AM to a post at the Marginal Revolution blog (link below), Jason Malloy wrote in response to a person who made the same claim about early Ashkenazi IQ results:

"Sorry Mark, your Google-fu and second-hand sources are a poor substitute for actual familiarity with the early literature – the kind you get by actually spending time in dank University library dungeons. I discovered/have a full early literature review from 1930 on Jewish IQ research up to that point. The picture painted in that 1930 review is exactly the same as today."

I did watch a PBS documentary on Jewish Americans and in the film it mentioned that there were 2 camp of Jews in the Northeast by the early 20th century. The elite, well educated German Jews, and the more prevalent "prolish" working class Eastern European Jews, who were recent immigrants and toiled at the factories. I do recall the narrator mentioning how these prolish Jews were considered dumb, but within 2 generations, they were already doing well in the colleges, where other White immigrant groups were still stuck as working class laborers.

"But, Chinese scientists don't grow up in a culture which forbids HBD research. If anything, the Han would love to prove their superiority."

I've been watching Die Hard 1 for the millionth time and I just watched Bruce Willis blow away that Chinese terrorist guy who opened the door to the roof - "Blow the roof!". This scene scientifically demonstrates Europeans are genetically more evolved than East Asians.

"While truths last forever, taboos against them can last for centuries."

Taboos have to be popular to last centuries. Taboos against speaking against religious leaders were unpopular because religion benefited the ordinary proles, benefits such as sacrificing children to Satan and bizarre sexual religious rights. These tangible, and, yes, pleasurable benefits were what made these taboos last over the long haul.

The HBD taboo is different than previous taboos because the diversity consensus entirely or almost entirely leads to negative outcomes for whites. At least religion has a happy story to tell and makes people feel good about their lives. But as costs continue to outweigh benefits there's a possibility the HBD consensus will break.

One other thing to keep in mind is that HBD has room to attract defectors because the consensus can't expand any further since it is the default position. The consensus has to work to minimize the number of defectors, which is an iffy project to accomplish when their position:

(A) Produces only negative policy outcomes for the people they most need to keep supporting it (whites) and

(B) Has no scientific or logical reason to support it because it could never answer this simple question in a remotely scientifically credible manner and without resorting to appeals to emotion - if different races have evolved different physical characteristics why wouldn't their evolved brain characteristics be different?

These factors suggest the HBD taboo will struggle to endure for the long term.

"china had had paper money, weights and measures, gun powder, the printing press, navigational equipment; all the building blocks for the most advanced civilizations. If china wanted to they could have easily discovered Europe"

So they had everything they needed to modernize, but couldn't imagine doing anything besides farming and occasionally starving? They could have discovered Australia, N/S America, and Europe, but were so incurious that they didn't. Good thing for them that they have inferior whites to show them.

East Asians (a brightish subset of the Mongoloids) don't seem to be capable of advancing on their own, even when they could create all the components.

I understand my comment here is a little late, but I would like to thank HS for his kind words about my comment, and for featuring it in a post.

I'll also add that I don't believe that Asians are superior to whites. I suppose I should have made it clearer that the Chinese "chauvinists" (if you will) can claim that their race is superior, for the reasons I listed. I don't endorse that view, but HBD gives them plenty of material to work with.

Similarly, Germans a century ago had a huge list of artistic, scientific and cultural achievements to point to for affirming their superiority, or that blacks today can claim that their remarkable athleticism and musicality means they're entitled to rule, and that huge, huge African population growth means that they will eventually overrun other countries.

Human beings enjoy believing that they're a member of the strongest tribe, and will come up with reasons after the fact to support those ideas.

"This scene scientifically demonstrates Europeans are genetically more evolved than East Asians".

One can just look at the architecture of Europe and that of East Asia to make an inference as to who is more evolved. Western architecture is just more intricate and difficult to build. Stone and brick layering of tall structures requires more labor and planning than wood plastering or mud structures of Asia and Africa.

"Similarly, Germans a century ago had a huge list of artistic, scientific and cultural achievements to point to for affirming their superiority"

All Western Europeans have demonstrated a form of superiority with at least one of these achievements, including Spain and Italy. Spaniards were master carvers of nations and Italians carved out the best statues.

"that blacks today can claim that their remarkable athleticism and musicality means they're entitled to rule"

A poor comparision with the Germans. Blacks neither have the brains nor the resources to rule anyone.

Anyone who lives or will visit NYC should check out these 2 bookstores and make a comparision between Whites and Asians when it comes to running a professional and efficient business, this as to make a determination who is smarter or more evolved.

These 2 bookstores sell different items, but just observe the White staff and the Asian staff as to make a comparision who's more efficient and professional.

I used these 2 foreign bookstores as prime examples because they represent the quintensentialness of European and Asian traits, free from the brainwashing of the American mainstream. Any American bookstore such as Barnes and Noble is a poor example, given the fact that most American Whites staffed at these large corporate businesses are socially retarded to be stupid and rigid, similarly as to what Hollywood has to done to the general population.

From my experiences, Whites in their best form are just more naturally gifted when dealing with people. The Japanese who are the most polite of the East Asians, are even somewhat taciturn and unflexible when comes to dealing with others.

"One can just look at the architecture of Europe and that of East Asia to make an inference as to who is more evolved."

Yes. Also, notice in Die Hard that the leadership of the robbers is entirely German while the Asian is relegated to a mere supporting role. Also notice the Germans are dressed better than the Asian. This demonstrates the existence of the bamboo ceiling which bars Northeast Asians from moving into upper management in the West.

"With all the proliferation of statistics, one that is impossible to find is the number of justifiable self-defense shootings by private citizens"

True. They are mostly left out of headlines because they implicity justify gun ownership. It's even worse when it's a justified white on NAM self defense shooting. You can find single incidents if you pay close enough attention, but don't expect a readily accessible gross statistic.

"A poor comparision with the Germans. Blacks neither have the brains nor the resources to rule anyone."

Did you even read my last sentence? My point is that it's human nature to want to be belong to the strongest tribe, and that people will come up with reasons to explain why their tribe is the mightiest. Thus, German a hundred years ago claimed they were Herrenvolk and pointed to their accomplishments to back that up. Chinese supremacists will claim that their massive numbers, big brains and low crime all mean that they're the mightiest. Even blacks could claim that they're the greatest - just listen to a few rap songs why they boast of their prowess.

On a second note, blacks definitely don't have the capacity to rule the world the way that the British aspired to in the 19th century. But, what is a consistent fear among whites who believe in HBD? That whites are too few in number, and that without them, the concomitant rise in the number of NAMs will bring about a downfall in civilization. Look at African birthrates, and look at present immigration to North America and Europe. That's what I'm talking about.

"Even blacks could claim that they're the greatest - just listen to a few rap songs why they boast of their prowess".

Blacks have no civilization to back their claims of superiority. At least with the Chinese, they were ahead of Europe during its infancy.

"That whites are too few in number, and that without them, the concomitant rise in the number of NAMs will bring about a downfall in civilization. Look at African birthrates, and look at present immigration to North America and Europe".

I believe stats show that the Black American population is decreasing.

"Also notice the Germans are dressed better than the Asian. This demonstrates the existence of the bamboo ceiling which bars Northeast Asians from moving into upper management in the West".

Hollywood movies are bad examples. A well traveled person would move away from the American viewpoint and look at the Europeans. Culturally and socially speaking, they are a lot more "intelligent" than the average White person in America and also the East Asians, including the Japanese. What does this tell you?

[HS: Do you truly hang out with prole Europeans to know that they are better than prole Japanese?]

This arch is located in NYC's Chinatown, a neighborhood where its residents could never appreciate nor understand its majestic beauty. HS mentioned that it's a neighborhood of Prole Chinese for reasons of ignorance. There are plenty of assimilated Asians who frequent Chinatown and most would never pay attention to it. On the other hand, I've seen many White tourists snap photos of this breath taking structure.

"Do you truly hang out with prole Europeans to know that they are better than prole Japanese?"

No, but I've known many educated Europeans and Japanese to make the comparision.

Europeans are more elegantly gifted when it comes to social engagement. Japanese and other East Asians tend to be rigid and somewhat on the introverted side. From a HBD viewpoint, Whites are more evolved to be individualistic, where as East Asian behaviorial traits were adapted to suit stratified hierarchical societies.

I do thnk that the Chinese are more intelligent and hard-working but Im not so sure that they are more cooperative:

From "http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/html/icb.topic702814/Bo_Yang.html"
Chinese people can be extremely convincing when they talk, thanks to their remarkably nimble tongues. If you believe what they say, there is nothing they cannot do, including extinguishing the sun with a single breath of air, and ruling the world with a single flick of the hand. In the laboratory or examination hall, where no personal relationships are involved, Chinese can produce impressive results. But when three fiery Chinese dragons get together, they can only produce about as much as a single pig, or a single insect, if that much. This is because of their addiction to infighting.

From Thosewhocansee "http://thosewhocansee.blogspot.se/2011/10/lied-to.html"
"from the [Hawaiian] community's standpoint the importation of Chinese has been a conspicuously successful experiment. There is no question in anybody's mind regarding their thrift and industriousness and their dependability. Lacking any marked tendency to collective ambition, or "race solidarity" as it is sometimes expressed, they are the less liable to form troublesome political "blocs" and are unlikely to scheme too deeply for the advancement of their group.
...
Thus spake S.D. Porteus in 1926 in his study on the ethnicities of Hawaii, Temperament and Race."

"But when three fiery Chinese dragons get together, they can only produce about as much as a single pig, or a single insect, if that much. This is because of their addiction to infighting".

The canard that the future is in China, where capital and ingenuity are heading into that direction, while the West languish in decline seems a bit overplayed. When in fact the best and the brightest Chinese citizens are leaving their country in droves for greener grass to places like the United States proves China is not this exemplary country that many are trying to make it out to be.

As this blog comes to an end, I think it is appropriate to recall some of the highlights. One in particular was when Half Sigma was quoted in the New York Times. That series of articles by Amy Harmon apparently won a Pullitzer.

In discussing the NY Times article, HS had a fascinating post explaining to new readers how he discovered HBD via the books of Arthur Jensen and why it was an important subject.

"When I first began blogging, race and intelligence was a topic I feared to write about, because I was afraid of being branded a racist. Larry Summers mentioned that men and women might have biologically based differences in cognitive abilities, and he was fired. James Watson recently mentioned the issue of race and intelligence, and he was fired. We live in a world where free speech and scientific inquiry are suppressed, mostly by the political left. The Catholic Church is often mocked for sentencing Galileo to prison for publicly advocating the view that the earth revolves around the sun. Yet most people today, if they were told it was racist to believe that the earth revolves around the sun, would merrily call for Galileo’s excommunication from the world of work. They wouldn’t bother to try and understand what Galileo was saying. After all, understanding his theory requires knowledge of geometry and math. It’s much easier to call him a racist and demand that he be fired.

I have since discovered that there are many other like-minded bloggers in the blogosphere, the most notable of which are Steve Sailer and the bloggers at Gene Expression. Because of the internet, the truth can no longer be suppressed forever, and within fifteen years I predict that a person will be able to publicly state the truth about genes and intelligence and not be cast out from polite society. Fifteen years is the timeframe mentioned by James Watson for discovering the root genetic basis for human cognitive abilities, and as the former head of the Human Genome Project and Director of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, he probably knows what he’s talking about.

For this reason, I have recently been blogging more often on the topic of human cognitive abilities. I feel like I am playing a small but important part in publicizing scientific knowledge that will have a major impact on the way we view psychology, sociology, and economics, and will have important implications for government policies. I know that many people fear this knowledge becoming public. They think that horrible things will happen. Images of Nazi Germany are often evoked. I think such fears are ridiculous. Will you become an evil genocidal murderer because you know that intelligence is genetic? Of course you won’t. So why do you think your neighbors will? Understanding our genetic differences will help us solve our social problems. Because no problem can be solved without knowing the causes of the problem. And that is what we are trying to do now: solve problems based on a faulty understanding of their causes."

***Now, if it were published today, it would be blacklisted and left unmentioned.***

Note that Andrew Sullivan has continued to post about this stuff and is as popular as ever. William Saletan also continued to link to his article about Liberal Creationism and maintained he couldn't ignore the evidence.

Jon Haidt is quoted in the New York Times - he has written a couple of times about how accelerated evolution means more ethnic differences. Steve Hsu writes about HBD often. The barriers are slowly coming down and people are trying to gently prepare the public. See Bruce Lahn's 'Let's Celebrate Human Genetic Diversity, Geoffrey Miller's article "The Looming Crisis in Human Genetics" or this editorial in the Economist.